Nanty and Ocoee in late August

[KAYAKN]

The Ozark Society Bayou Chapter has a late August trip to the Nanty. It will be the 23-30 of August. Most folks are staying at the Smoky Mountain Meadow Campground smmcamp@yahoo.com 1-828-488-3672. The Nanty is a classIII river in the books, my opinion classII+ . If you have taking the ACC ww class you should be able to handle the Nanty. There are good chances that a newbe would swim, so i would recommend you be a good swimmer with some swift water skills; being able to catch and throw a rope(having your own rope is a big plus), knowing how to swim in swift water, proper clothing for a COLD river on a warm day, knowing how to ferry and cath eddies are good skills to have also and if your kayakn a roll would be nice, the swims can be LONG sometimes. Or you can hitch a ride on a raft(with noc) if you just want to come and hang out and see what its all about. Some of us will paddle the Ocoee and what ever else we can find that late in the season. Should be another good trip with good food and friends. Just thought i would throw it out there incase any of you folks wanted to come. If the water thing just isnt your cup of tea there are folks that come on the trip to hike, bike, shop or just sit at the camp and read. Theres a little bit of something to do for everyones pleasure. Remember, if you do come we are in no way responsible for your well being, you must be able to self rescue. Oh and if your wondering about fuel cost, this is what i spent over the 4th going east. We had five guys in the truck and it cost each one of us 103.00 each for four days on the Ocoee. Now thats a cheap vacation, and the good folks out east could use our money because its kinda slow because of fuel. I almost forgot you will need and GOLD river pass for the Ocoee, its only 25.00 and i can get it at the putin The gold pass will allow you to get on the olympic section. If you act know i might can get them for 19.95 but i will need multiple orders.
Adam

[Renee H]

Maybe Cory can elaborate on this Ocoee River GOLD pass .............

[Crane]

My opinion is that the Nanty is a solid Class III river that takes more than Canoe School to run safely... for several reasons. Thus, newbies need to be sure they have skills to do it before jumping onto it. It's not a mean river, but if you swim at the wrong spot & get your feet down, it has proven deadly in the past.

[super ez]

At least in late August and Sept the Nanty is at its warmest!

The nice thing about the Nanty is that there are many putin and takeout option. For those you are a concerned about their abilities.. try a section other than traditional whole run river or Freebees to NOC runs.

For a feel of the river, trying running from surfing rapid to Donnie Dutton Park. An excellent info for the Nanty is "Playboating the Nanty River" by Kelly Fisher out of Milestone Press. Parking is available at both of these spots. Another good break in.. putin just below Patton's run and take out at Freebee's. In that section is Pyramid rock and the rapid below that. IF you do fine with that, you be okay on everything except may be the falls.

There is a cheat on the fall on the very far right for those who do not want to portage. Release needs to be normal level for this cheat.

The Tuck gorge run is not far from the Nanty for those who really do not want to try the Nanty. It is a nice run; some of the rapids can be as hard but its is more pool drop for recovering swimmers.

If someone is interested in the Nanty book and the corresponding book for the Ocoee... I am willing to sell them as a set. Both books are well used and have been notes I have written in for friends who have borrowed them.

With my relocation to western TX in Sep, I suspect my trip in early Sep to the Nanty will be my last.

[sugarmtngal]

I have an interest in purchasing those books(msg me the price you want). Thanks for the details on the Nanty -

And Kayakn - we're forming a group from NW chapt (I think) and will probably see you out there! It'll be my first time on those rivers......

[RomanLA]

If you need a warm up, there's man made eddies upstream of the bridge at NOC. You can practice peel outs and catching eddies there. I didn't run the Tuck while I was there. I heard it was like an underwater junkyard, complete with cars. I ended up running the Little Tennesee instead. It's actually closer to the Nanty too. I'm not sure what it would be like this time of year though. I ran it at 1800cfs and it was solid rapids and hardly any eddies for 5 miles. It's probably more of a float trip right now though. I haven't gotten a run on the Nanty yet, since it was a little crazy from all the rain when I was there. I would definitely start with the run from Ferebee to above Surfer's Rapid (I think???). We ran that section a lot in guide school and it was pretty straight forward.

p.s. I heard the river is actually 2 degrees colder in the summer.

p.s.s. I was thinking about going tomorrow night, but I may wait and come meet y'all for the last couple days instead.

[philllll]

here's what I've done with some newbies and the Nanty... it's a great way to mix in with a more experienced group with out impacting everyone.

day one, rent a duckie from NOC and join your group for the whole river. since the duckies are staged (at the commercial put in) it really doesn't impact shuttle (get dropped off there and paddle 100 yards down to public put in river left). it takes all the "am I ready" stress build up away. You'll have a fun day. You'll see every rapid up close. You'll know for sure if you're ready. from the group's experienced paddler, make sure you understand 3 spots on the river. delabars rock after ferebees where a swimmer can be pushed against the rock... the bump which can be a sticky hole... and the known undercut rock (marked upstream by neon orange paddle in trees) which is easy to avoid.

day two, you can always duckie again... or if the cold water is manageable and you are OK with basics of self rescue, put in below Pattons. While Pattons isn't all that hard, it is a bit fast and shallow for newbies first thing out of the gate. have a great day on the river. if you swim, none are epic. work on catching eddies and rolling in moving water and eddy lines. don't think about the nanty falls until you get to the cement landing. then decide if that's a go or not. since it's an easy hike/rerun, most experienced paddlers will be happy to take you on a run.

[KAYAKN]

BUMP